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For Men, Stronger Online Connections

Men are more likely to be strongly attached to their online connections than women, according to figures released recently by the Annenberg Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California.

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They are 13 percentage points more likely to report that they “feel as strongly” about their online communities as about their off-line ones, and they outnumber women three to one within the small pool of people who say that their online life cuts back on time spent with flesh-and-blood friends. “Women seem to more value their real-world and off-line relationships,” said Michael Gilbert, a senior fellow at the center. The data was collected from a survey tracking 2,000 households.

The sexes also read differently, according to the data: Every week, women spend two more nonwork hours reading ink-and-paper books than men; men are more likely than women to spend their leisure time reading media online. Over all, men spend two more nonwork hours a week online than women do.